"The Holy Family of Nazareth is truly the 'prototype" of every Christian family which…is called to carry out the wonderful vocation and mission of being the living cell not only of society but also of the Church, a sign and instrument of unity
for the entire human race."

- Pope Benedict XVI

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

(Amsterdam) Violent polemics were triggered in the Netherlands with the words of the Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk. Here, the Cardinal had only reminded what is self-evident. He said in an interview during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that the Council of Trent still has full force and effect. Because this self-evident fact has been very little heard any more in the past few decades, it is supposed to have caused a scandal that has provoked fierce reactions toward Protestant as well as Catholic-ecumenical circles.

“Condemnation of Those Who Reject the Teachings of the Council, Have Full Force and Effect”

During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Calvinist Reformatorisch Dagblad published an interview with Cardinal Eijk, which was taken up by the daily newspaper Trouw on 20 January. Within, the Archbishop of Utrecht said that “the doctrine and the condemnations of the Council of Trent are still in full force.” The newspaper wrote: “Cardinal Eijk is explicit in this respect: The Council of Trent’s teachings are still perfectly valid. This also applies to convictions which were adopted against those who reject the Council’s teachings. Like the Protestants.”